The pizza dough
The basic dough is the same as the bread (or flour, yeast, water and salt), but unlike the latter, it is necessary to add the oil to make the mixture elastic and be able to create the perfect classic pizza circle. once ready, it can be seasoned with ingredients of your choice, from the most classic margherita to the most extravagant versions such as apples and gorgonzola.
Ingredients (for a large pizza)
- 250 g of flour
- 1 sachet of baking powder or 20 g of fresh yeast in cubes, dissolved in a little warm water
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 level teaspoon of salt
- 15 cl of warm water
Preparation:
- Mix the flour and salt with a wooden spoon. Add the yeast, pour warm water and continue to mix for another minute. Add the oil and knead for 5 minutes, until it becomes homogeneous and detaches from the walls of the container ..
- Cover with a clean cloth, let the dough swell in a warm place (for example in an oven preheated to 30 ° C and then turned off) until it doubles in volume, that is for about 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven. Flour the work surface and roll the dough over it, forming a disk, with your hands or a rolling pin. Put the dough on the plate covered with parchment paper. Season the pizza to taste and bake.
Tricks and variants
- For a original touch replace 1/3 of the water with white wine and add oregano.
- Perfume it: with basil or other herbs, spices, minced garlic, mustard
- Replace 1/3 or 1/4 of the flour with fine corn semolina to give the pasta a slightly grainy and crunchy texture.
- Get help: the bread machine is used especially for kneading and leavening!
- One quick recipe: replace the water with a jar of yogurt and use chemical yeast.
- Keep the pizza dough al fresco, covered with a transparent film. You can also freeze it: spread it out on parchment paper and then wrap it into a tube before putting it in a plastic bag.
- For activate the yeast more quickly, you can add a pinch of sugar.
- More oil there is in the dough, the crispier the pizza will be. To roll the dough very thin, you will need to sprinkle with flour at each step of the rolling pin.
The dressing:
- Classic pizza: the base is tomato sauce, olive oil, sugar and spices. If you are in a hurry, you can use concentrated tomato and a few pinches of powdered sugar (to dampen the acidity of the tomato), it will be fine.
- White pizza: the base will then be made up of cream, mascarpone or ricotta.
The most common types of pizza:
- Margherita Pizza: the basic pizza. Tomato sauce, mozzarella, oregano.
- 4 seasons: tomato sauce, mozzarella, cooked ham, mushrooms, artichokes, olives.
- 4 cheeses: tomato sauce or cream, mozzarella and 3 other cheeses of your choice.
- Naples: bomodoro sauce, anchovies, olives.
